Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-02-26
WINE AND BRANDY.
An Effort to Raise the
Standard of Wines.
CHARLES STERNs' DISTILLERY.
The Prospects for the Vintage Of
1887 are Considered Above
the Average.

One of the enterprises of which Los
Angeles may well be proud is the ilistil.
lery and winery of Charles Stern, which.
from it's position as regards convenience
and its reputation for turning out moth.
ing but the best, occupies a place on .
higher plane than any other similar
establishment in the South. The coming
year is likely to be very busy one for
wine and brandy-makers and Mr.. Stern
is making preparations to handle an
immense amount of grapes. He il filling
up his cellars with casks, and before
many weeks everything will be in run-
ming order. 1t is the aim of Mr.. Stern
to raise the grade of Califolnis wine and
ali OF the improvements which are to be
made and are now unds sr way, will be 70
that end. The time has arrived when
every nerve should be strained to make
wine the popular drink. Wine il
the drink or beverage intended by na.
ture for the human race aud the public
are just beginning to appreciate this
fact. But III order to lead the psopls
the wine.makers must,furnish gool. puss
wines IN sufficient quantity 20 supply
the demand, and Mr.. Stern is enlarxinx
his premises with this end ia view. Ia
his opinion wine should not Be
placed on the market before II
is two years old. IL sold
sooner it loses its natural favor, which
is far superior to French or German
wines. Los Angeles people especially
should be careful of their wines. MANY
visitors arrive and depart during the
course OF the month, and if they are given
wine which Is not up to the standard
they go away with q wrong impression
OF the California product. If the people
here could be induced to realizs the
amount Of karm done by a single glass
of poor wine, they would no doubt
change their ideas. 1t is much cheaper,
OF course, to make wine and sell it the
same year Expenses 90 not accrue for
storage and for extra handling, and 30
large cellars do not have 10 be kept mp,
but the extra expense of keeping mp
these things will be more than reLaid ia
the future. Mr.. Stern's cellsr Is now
quite large, but as the needs of his bust.
ness grow he will increase its capacity.
There are now an immense number Of
luncheons of wine of all ages and kinds
piled up in the wine. cellar, aud each
year will increase the stock held ON hand.
1t is the intention of Mr.. Stern to estab-
lish central place of business in this
city. where his wines may be procured
with less trouble. b5th al Wholesale Shd<
retail. There are number of such
places in San Francisco and in ths East
ern cities, and Los Angeles has long
been in need of place where California
wine can be obtained in quantities to
suit.
1t is almost too early in the year to
prt dict what the grape will be, but the
vinegar ists state that they have had
sufficient rain. Southern California
vineyards are generally provided with
m ans tor irrigation, SO that poor crop
seldom results even in the dryest year.
This year there has been no lack of
moisture, and the conditions are regard.
ed as favorable. OF course, prices real.
lied depend upon the amounts raised,
and it is robable that grapes will not
bring much more than last year, when
they were lower than ever before. When
grapes can be obtained more reasonably
the wine.makers can afford to pay more
attention to quality, to place the wine
on the market at lower figures, and to
push out in new directions. To sue cess
fully compete with older communities
the winemakers OF Southern California
must be able to put better article on
the market at the same or lower prices,
Already wines from this section have
gained good reputation in the East.
and it has been through the efforts of
those who are continually trying to raise
the standard and Improve the quality.
In addition to wine MIR Stern distils
the purest quality of gape brandy.
The capacity of bis still is very large.
being about l20 tons of grapes each day,
and If necessity demands he has plenty
OF room for enlargement. The natural
ad santages of the still are many. The
Los Angeles river runs close by aud it's
wa ers are pumped up for cooling pur-
poses. The fermenting vats and the
machinery about the place are now being
put IN order for the coming season.
The grapes are to be delivered at the
front, from which entrance they are
passed into the crusher, and the juice
treated in huge vat, from whence 1T is
conveyed to the fermenting watts below.
The convenience of arrangements about
the premises are unexcelled aud it is NO
wonder that the brandy is good when it
is placed on the market. A visit to this
dlstillery will well repay the visitors
and citizaps